Process of forming tubes and apparatus therefor.



L. H. BRlNKMAN.

PROCESS OF FORMING TUBES AND APPARATUS TBEREFOR.

APPLGATION FILED AUG. 29, 1913.

Patented Feb. 24, 1914.

M, T. N E V.. W

WITNE irren sinfris refr.

LOUIS E. BBINKMAN,

INDUSTR-IES C0., 0F NEW YORK, N.

0F GLEN RIDGE,

El? ERTUS THEBEFOR..

Specification of )Letters etent.

Application :lied August 2i), i. fiorini I "stent/ed Feb. 2d, 1914.

To all whom it 'may oovncern Be it known that l, Louis H. Brunnen, a citizen of the United States, and e resident of Glen Ridge, in the county of Esser` and State of New J ersey, have invented e certain new and useful Improvement in Processes of Forming Tubes and Apparatus Therelior, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a process of orirr ing tubes by cross-rolling billets or other cylindrical bodies and apparatus tbereion The object 'of the invention is to proyide a process and apparatus for carrying out the same whereby tubes may be repidlyund economically made from billets or other cy liidrical bodies of larger inner ydiameter than the desired tube, and the 'invention con -sists in the process and apparatus hereinafter described for attaining these results,

In carrying out my process, lf subject the metal of the billet or cylindrical body, to what is known as cross-rolling 7, to extend or elongate the metal. The construction,` en rangement and use of rolls or disks for cross rolling hot billets to pierce them for the purpose of subsequently forming tubes by the draw-bench method, and the further carry ing out of the crossq'olling principle to form tubes from hot billets by theprovision of :i plurality of sets of rolls or disks suitably arranged to act on the metal at successive points along the pass so as to progres sivel'y and simultaneously reduce the thickness'of the billet and elongate the motel, et these points, are matters Well 'understood in the art, so that in describing my invention, l will only briefly refer to the arrangement of the cross-rolling devices in so cerns this much of their function in present invention,

Broodly stated, my improved process or" tubes by cross-rolling billets, ori

forming other ,cylindrical bodies, comprises sinuli and progressively reducing' the inner dieme- I:

taneously thickness of the metal and ter of the body at successive points along the pass by continuously and simultaneously' subjecting the metal at these points to cross rolling action so as to press it inwardly end extend it longitudinally.

In the preferred embodiment of practising roy process, l subject the metal to cross-rolling action continuously and simulteneously at successive points along tbe pass, by seperate sets of cross-rolling bodies these for as conw j the i n A i ro pech other to produce what is generally not upon the metal at these ogressivelyincreasing ratio of oliing components, While s if let upon a stepped-down l shoulders it these successive points h serve to bac' up the metal unii der *die cross-rolling bodies so as to localize g the crushing or pressure component of the cross-rolling bodies to the short portion of the metal extending' beyond the successive soulders not vet' enga ed and bent down ross-ioliing bodies, so that the ted be engaged by bodies end p oanently l lthe 'cross-rolling shoulders to the 'inner i bent down over the diameter of the next n im the mandrel, the metal being continuously end progressively spread ed longitndinslly at these succesn the pass simultaneously ve reduction of its diameng bodies tending to draw sneceedirof section of or extend.

ing, showing e longitudinal view, mostly in l, section, el the preferred 'form of apparatus 'for cnr ying out my process.

The lint billet, or cylindrical body, 1 to be Yrolled is mounted on thesupport 2 in the 1 form oi n stepped A:nondrel--that is a mandrel consisting a plurality of sections 3W?, each ol1 loss diameter than the preceding on and haring shoulders 8F11 between l, sucoeisl e section These 'shotilders are abrupt and concave in section, sind eee-h is of less height than the i' if one, so tbst ythe diierence in the s oi' successive sections gradually Art each shoulder or stepare pro- ;le ineens, suoli es rolls or rotin 142W" il, suitably arranged to rotsv tably engoge tile metal at these points so as sui/vient it to erossofolling action. The vnrions forms of rolls or disks sind their or rangement with respect to the poss and preferably rstl'ier trible, rs

Known :is eross-rolli1ig is Well understood in the srt` is also tbe relative shapes und periphe nd the shoulders while working with successive rolls to take care of the elonated metal and to produce tension between' t 1e successive pairs of rollst In the preferred form of my invention the or engaging peripheries -21 of the rst pair of disks 12-13 are of relatively short radius in section as compared with those of the succeeding pairs, the sec tional outline of the working surfaces of the successive pairs of disks bemg of gradually increasing radius until linally the working surfaces 26, 27 of the last air are comparatively broad and' fairl at so as to servel mostly to smooth out the ridges or grooves, formed in the metal by the preceding rolls,

to roduce a smooth product.

he cross-rollin action of the disks in this apparatus wou d tend to thrust the man drol longitudinally, ,andin order to 'prevent this, I rovide suitable means to hold tihe mandre from longitudinal movement under the cross-rolling action, the said means being so arranged as to rmit the billet or cy lindrical body to be s ipped on themandrel over its rear end. This means, in its preferred form, -consists of a stationary support 28 having an annular part 29 preferably concentric with the mandrel and provided with threads 30 into which is threaded a ring 31 carrying an outer bearing 32 fora, series of balls 33, upon which is mounted an inner ring 34 having projections 35 in which are threaded set screws 36 adapted to engage in a groove 37 at the rear end of the mandrel. The inner ring 34 is provided with an annular bearing portion 38 which `forces the balls against an annular shoulder 39 of bearin 32 when the cross-rolling action is starte The difference between the diameters o the inner ring 34 and the rear end of the mandrel is such as to permit billets of the desired thickness to be slipped Je@ the rear end of the mandrel in place upon section 3 by simply withdrawing the set screws 36 The o eration of the a paratus described is as fol ows: When itis desircd to place the billet upon the mandrel the screws 36 are .removed and the billet slipped over the rear end of the mandrel. Thedisks or'rolls are then started up and the hot billet ushed in place against the first pair of ro ls which engage the billet and by their cross-rolling action force the metal down upon the shoulw der 8 extending the metal longitudinally,

' thereby simultaneously elongating the metal and decreasing the inner diameter of the billet at this point. These rolls continuously operate upon the billet to elongate the metal at this point, and as the elongated metal reaches the' second pair of rolls lflthey take hold of the met-al and by cross-rollin action force the metal down upon the shou der 9 to again reduce the thickness of the l5' metal and its inner diameter, while the first pair of rolls are simultaneously operating, and so on through as many rolls as it may be desired to use, intil the last air of rolls are reached. The step or shoul er 11 under these rolls is comparatively low and the sur face of the rolls being broad and flat acts mainly to press out the ridges or irregularities in the surface of the metal torproduce a. smooth product,

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Let ters Patent., is:

1. The process of forming a. metal tube from a cy indrical body of larger diameter, which comprises simultaneously and prossively at successive points along the ength of the body, spreading the metal longitudinally and forcing it inwardly'permanently to reduce the inner diameter-ot the body, by subjecting it to continuous and simultaneous cross-rolling action at said successive points and rolling the metal down at said points against shoulders cfa stoppeddown mandrel.

2. The roces-s ot' forming a metal tube from a cy indrical body of larger diameter, which comprises simultaneously and pro gressively at successive points. along. they ength of the body, spreading the metal longitudinally and forcing it inwardly permenentlyto reduce the inner diameter of the body, by subjecting it to continuons and si. multaneous cross-rolling action. at said suc` cessive points by separate sets of cross-roll# ing bodies which act to roll the metal down at said points upon inner supporting shout ders of progressively' reduced diameters.

3, The process of forming a metal tube from a cylindrical body of larger diameter, which comprises simultaneously and progressively at successive points along the length of the body, spreading the metal longitudinally and forcing it inwardly perrnanently to reduce the inner diameter of the body, and producing tension in the meta-l hetween said points, by subjecting it to continuous and simultaneous cross-rolling ac tion at said successive points by separate sets of' cross-rollingr bodies having their working faces convex longitudinally of the pass and act-ing' upon the metal with progressively increasingr ratios of feeding to cross-rolling components to roll the met-al down at said points upon successive shoulders of an inner supporting stepped-dow`n mandrel.

4. I from a cylindrical body of larger diameter,

n a machine for forming a metal tube` the combination of'an inner support for the'A body having' successive annular shoulders formed thereon ofprogressively reduced die ameter towardthe finishing 'end of vthe machine, and separate sets of cross-rolling bod ies at the successive shoulders operatively related thereto for simultaneously orosei-OIL ing the cylindrical body thereat to continu` ously and simultaneously force the metal l stepped down toward the finishing end of the machine to provide a series of shoul ders of progressively reducedv diameter, and sets of crossrolling devices vat the successive shoulders, operatively positioned with respect tothe pass to simultaneously rotat-ively engage the metal of the cylindrical body to cross-roll it, each succeeding set acting upon the metal with an increased ratio between the feeding' and cross-rolling components, to continuously and simultaneously force the metal down upon the successive shoulders so as to simultaneously'and progressively extend the metal, produce tension therein between the successive points of cross-ro1linfy` and reduce the inner diameter of the cylindrical body at such points.

6. In a machine for forming a metal tube from a cylindrical body of larger' dialnet/er, the combination of an inner support 'for the body havingr successive annular shoulders formed thereon of progressively reduced diameter toward the finishing end of the machine, separate sets of cross-rolling bodies at the successive shoulders operatively related thereto for simultaneously cross-rolling the cylindrical body thereat to continuously and simultaneously force the metal down upon the successive shoulders s' as .simultaneously and progressively reduce the thickness of the metal, elongate it, and reduce the innerdiameter of the..cylindricalbody, at said points, and meansfor securing the rear end of the inner support to prevent longitudinal movement thereof under the crossrolling action, whereby the operative relation of the shoulders and the cross-rolling bodies is maintained.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to t-his specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses..

' LOUIS H. BRINKMAN.

Witnesses:

. F. ANGELOCH,

SAMUEL M. WARD, Jr. 

